What are mosquito magnets?

The manufacturers of mosquito magnets have taken out 15 patents on the technology that enables them to do their job so effectively. Mosquito magnets are devices that eliminate mosquitoes from your yard by reducing the entire mosquito population in your area. Depending on where you live, the mosquito magnet uses different lures to attract mosquitoes to it, and then vacuums them into a mosquito bag, where they dehydrate and die.

Since mosquitoes are attracted to carbon dioxide, warmth and moisture, the mosquito magnet has a propane tank attached to it, and when the propane undergoes a catalytic reaction, it produces carbon dioxide and water vapor. Together with octenol, a mosquito attractant that mimics plant chemicals, or Lurex, a mosquito attractant that simulates sweat, this combination of carbon dioxide, water vapor, and mosquito-lure is irresistible to the mosquitoes. The mosquito magnet blows out this mixture and the wind carries it to where nearby mosquitoes breed and live. Within seven to 10 days, you should see a decline in the mosquito population, and as more mosquitoes are caught, fewer mosquitos are left to lay eggs to hatch.

For your mosquito magnet to work properly, you should place it at a spot on your property where the wind will carry the scent of the lure to the mosquitoes. Make sure that it's not in a place where bushes are blocking it; it also shouldn't be too close to the house. When ordering your mosquito magnet, specify where you live so the company will know which species of mosquitoes are likely to be in your area to send you the correct lure for them. Every three weeks, you should add a new cartridge of lure to your mosquito magnet, since it takes that long for the old cartridge to get used up.

In tests carried out around the world, the mosquito magnet out-performed other mosquito catchers, with a U.S. Coast Guard station claiming to have caught 1.5 million mosquitoes with six mosquito magnets in less than a week.